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Jamie Dupree’s Washington Insider

DNC Chair resigns on convention eve

The week of the Democratic National Convention got off to a very rocky start for Democrats gathering here in Philadelphia, as national chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz was forced to resign her position, as the uproar grew over leaked emails from inside national Democratic party headquarters that showed officials favoring Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders.

As the outcry grew on Sunday from supporters of Sanders – and the candidate himself – Wasserman Schultz finally announced that she would step down as national party chair.

“I told you a long time ago that the DNC was not running a fair operation,” Sanders told the ABC News program, “This Week.”

Wasserman Schultz made no mention of the emails as she announced that she was leaving her post, as it seemingly took intense pressure from others to get her to step down.

“For the last eight years, Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz has had my back,” President Obama said in a written statement. “This afternoon, I called her to let her know that I am grateful.”

Hillary Clinton swiftly weighed in with her own statement as well:

While Wasserman Schultz has had enemies for several years within the party, her departure just hours before the start of the Democratic National Convention was an embarrassing way to begin the week in Philadelphia, especially as Democrats try to argue they are more united than Republicans were last week in Cleveland.

Dem convention was supposed to be a show of relative unity & precision following GOP convention. But Philly is starting off as a hot mess.